Kathryn Akbik

Kathryn has been creating ceramics for over 10 years. She studied studio art and ballet as an undergraduate but was more interested in painting and drawing than in pottery. She was a dancer with Kansas City Ballet and worked for a year in Guatemala as an artist and illustrator before coming to Madison for graduate school. Kathryn currently teaches pottery with MSCR.

Hi, I’m Chris!

Not only do I create unique handwoven handbags and homegoods, I also work with beginning weavers who can’t figure out what to do next. I show them how to turn their great ideas into gorgeous handwoven fabric, and give them the tools to become confident weavers.

I’ve given weaving demonstrations to thousands of people.

I’ve written over 250 blog posts on weaving over the course of a decade.

I’ve taught weaving everywhere – privately, in a group setting, and online.

I’ve sold thousands of dollars in handwoven handbags and homegoods.

And when I’m not weaving away, or creating the next “A Handwoven Experience” video, I can be found slurping hot tea and reading a romance. (A happy ending is a requirement.)

Free People Pottery

Stefanie Anderson, New Glarus WI

Forming clay =JOY

Inspired by hope

Nakoma Hardwoods, Madison WI

Unique locally-sourced hand-crafted pieces made in Madison WI.

Matt was inspired from a young age about the beauty of wood, and the extraordinary figures, colors, and creations that result from wonderful craftsmanship. He strives to share his love of wood and its features with others by creating customized, unique pieces that display the elegance of a material that many take for granted.

All of the wood Matt uses is locally-sourced from south-central Wisconsin. Each piece is hand-crafted and unique.

Matt established Nakoma Hardwoods in 2020. His work has been acquired by clients from Wisconsin, Michigan, Minnesota, and California. Matt is increasingly chosen in juried arts and crafts fairs, including Art Fair Off the Square (Madison) and the Spring Green Art Fair.

Alison Blair Studio Metal Works

Organically Designed Pieces For Everyday Wear

I grew up under the watch of large, mysterious abstract canvases painted in ethereal, alluring color combinations like aubergine and golden flax, sienna and cerulean. The smell of oil paint and the tacky feel of the a drying palette piqued my senses. These are the nostalgic touch points of my childhood.

My father was a fine artist and our cedar-paneled basement was where he spun his art. Burlap paint-stained cloths thrown over card tables, a dark-wood easel, and makeshift repurposed finds furnished this space that I now recall so fondly.

Alison Blair

I am a ceramic artist living and working in Madison, WI. Twelve years ago I started taking an evening pottery class at a local community center. I was hooked! After spending several years taking workshops and classes I was amassing a huge amount of bowls and mugs, so I decided to start my own business selling my work.

Many nights and weekends in community studio spaces over the years have led to my own studio space in my home where I now work full-time making pottery.

Life in the studio is not very glamorous. There is almost always clay under my fingernails. I own more t-shirts than dresses. Coffee, sugar, and 80s music, i.e. Duran Duran and Depeche Mode fuel my days.

I enjoy carefully crafting each piece of clay, one at a time, experimenting with different textures, colors, and surface decorations to create a unique line of pottery for your everyday life.

(Hands photo by Paul West.)

Zeme is a creative endeavor comprised of husband and wife Andrew Haley and Patricia Blauvelt. Patricia's emphasis on surface design continues to evolve with small batch releases as Andrew hones in on form and production. Current endeavors are heavily rooted in clay but the idea of small batch goods with other natural materials is on the table.

Patricia Blauvelt

Ceramics

I thrive on the process of making and creating. Working in clay provides an opportunity to create functional art that I enjoy looking at, enjoy holding, and enjoy using. Many of my wheel-thrown and hand-built stoneware pottery pieces are largely inspired by the harvests of home gardens and farms, and thus the name, Garden Harvest Pottery. You may notice my nod to farms and gardens in the split-rail pottery baskets, as well as bottles and vases designed to hold freshly cut or dried owers. And, of course, in a variety of other pieces — plates, bowls, cheese plates, and more — for serving food prepared from farm and garden harvests. I’m especially intrigued by the forms and textures of leaves and create pottery platters and plates from specially selected rhubarb, cucumber and hosta leaves. I appreciate other textures, too, and enjoy incorporating them into other pieces. All of my pots are food-safe and with care can be put in a conventional oven, microwave, and dishwasher. I hope you will enjoy using Garden Harvest Pottery pieces as much as I enjoy making them.

• Narra Smith Cox

Garden Harvest Pottery

Deb Donaghue took her first metal class in her early 20s. Study and research took her and her husband, Jeff, to India. While her intention was to continue working with metal, when she returned, life, jobs, a child, and then their own business intervened. Deb and Jeff moved to Mineral Point from the Twin Cities in 1996 and opened The Brewery Creek Inn and Brewpub in 1998. In 2007 her daughter introduced her to chain maille and from there her long-buried interest in working with metal grew. Deb continues her studies independently as well as weekly at Madison Area Technical College. She has jewelry for sale at Longbranch Gallery here in Mineral Point and teaches several basic metalworking classes each year at Shake Rag Alley.

Outside.  In nature.  In the mountains. Where my soul finds rest.  Ancient cultures, who celebrated life through art and design. Artisans, who forged metal and forged a way.  My free-spirited father who homeschooled me in a retrofitted school bus, and taught me to dream big and embrace my inner hippie.  My mother and grandmother, made their own rules and broke through glass ceilings, showing me how to love fiercely and embrace my own strength. These are the things that shape me, inspire me, and flow through me in my designs.   Here you will find thoughtfully crafted jewelry, inspired by nature, that celebrate the small moments in life.  The moments that remind you of who you are and your own unique, natural beauty. 

 My journey actually began with a terribly impulsive decision. While waiting tables, an extremely rude customer prompted me to spontaneously quit my waitress job.  In a moment of pure desperation, I decided to start selling my jewelry. As I fell more and more in love with the process of making, a whole new path was born. I dropped out of graduate school and signed up for a metals class.  I was hooked. Like, obsessively, starry eyed hooked. I found myself fascinated by the ancient techniques of metalsmithing, connecting me to a lineage of metalsmiths who have gone before me. My fascination with stones, color and ancient designs only grew stronger.  From there, I went on to achieve a degree as a goldsmith, giving me the skills needed to make all the beautiful things floating around in my head.

There is nothing in the world I would rather do.  I find deep, abiding joy in sharing my work with amazing women, who inspire me with their own crazy, beautiful stories.  For me, it’s more than jewelry.  It’s a moment. It's a communion with nature. A tie to the past. A connection between you and me. Every day I am grateful for that moment of impulsivity. I am grateful for my journey.  Every twist.  Every valley.  Every mountain top.  I'm especially grateful for you.  I couldn't do this without you!

My husband works alongside me, managing the books. We live in beautiful Denver CO, at the base of the Rocky Mountains, with our two fearless boys.

Style & Quality

I describe my jewelry as rustic feminine. For a girl who likes to get dirty. A girl who climbs mountains and kisses boo boos.  I focus on exquisite details and elegant design, with a strong connection to the natural world.  I have developed my own special techniques combining the traditions of metalsmithing and wire work to create unique jewelry with understated flair.

I am obsessed with stones.  I spend a lot of time and energy bringing you the most unique, beautiful stones I can find.  My inspiration comes from the earth, the stones, and the natural beauty of life.

Metals used are sterling silver, 14k gold fill, 14k gold, brass, bronze and copper. Everything is nickel free.

100% Handmade

Everything is handmade by me, with passion and attention to detail.   Every piece has its own personality, which I try to honor with quality materials, original design and fine craftsmanship.

Awards and Training

Graduate of the Howard Academy of Metal Arts, Studied Metal Arts at Santa Monica City College, and UCLA

Best of Show - WJA Student Design Competition

Accessories Designer of the Year - RAW,  Madison WI

I live among the rolling hills and farmland of southwestern Wisconsin known as the Driftless Area. Living in this unique geological area has helped define my artistic journey. But, before I go on, let me step back a few years.

In 1986, my husband, Tony, and I lived in Madison, the state capitol of Wisconsin. Having lived in Madison for ten years, we made the decision to return to our roots and look for rural property to build a house on. We had both grown up in nearby farming communities and moved to Madison in 1975. We didn’t anticipate finding 40 acres of woods, fields, and rocky bluffs that we couldn’t resist. The house came much later a geodesic dome which we built with the help of family and friends.

Within a short time of moving to the countryside, I made the momentous decision to teach myself how to paint, a desire that had been with me for many years. Prior to this, I had expressed my creative urges primarily with pencil, fitting it in on the edges of my life and not making much progress. I also took several adult evening painting courses, but, again, did not make a commitment to continue. All that changed in 1995, when I reduced my full time job to four days a week. The fifth day was devoted to watercolor painting.

After two difficult years of the trial and error approach and hitting a point of almost giving up on being able to paint, I felt that I had finally turned a corner. I began to show my paintings at art fairs and local businesses, and participating in regional artist organizations and their related activities. Eventually, I began to work with other media, in addition to watercolor, to see where it would take me. This next step opened doors of unexpected creativity and events that soared off into various directions and developed into niches of their own.

At this time, I regularly exhibit my paintings and artwork in solo and group shows. I have also come full circle--teaching beginning watercolor, among other courses, at Blackhawk Technical College in Monroe, Wisconsin. Nature, in its never ending display of magnificence, is the primary inspiration for my art. I will travel around the state and beyond at all times of the year to find new subject matter to paint, but I’m particularly drawn toward marshes, rivers, lakes, and their ecosystems. My own floral and vegetable gardens provide additional stimulation, as well as the agricultural scenes in the surrounding area. I make use of watercolor, acrylic, pencil, pen, or mixed media to create my artwork, and I’m always ready to experiment with new techniques, ideas, and subject matter.

ORGANIC CLASSIC JEWELRY

There is a saying in Japan, wabi-sabi, meaning there is beauty in the imperfect. I love jewelry that is slightly off-centered either by stone setting or just a little bend in the metal. When designing a piece I always look for a way to make it slightly imperfect. I want people wearing my jewelry to feel they own a piece that no one else does, and one the feels like is has been especially made for them. Each piece holds its own story in either the stones, glass, rust or just the design. Having majored in geology and art, I love working with all types of stones – knowing their science along with their art form, make it particularly fun for me. Precious or semi-precious gems accent my work, i.e. a piece of Greek sea glass accented with tourmaline and tiny diamonds, American turquoise accented with sapphires and topaz, or a rusted washer made into a belt buckle with agate and sapphires. I also mix silver with a little bit of gold creating a richness to my pieces. My jewelry embraces the fine craft of silversmithing using various techniques and plays with mixing silver with other metals and always adding the sparkling aspect of faceted stones. And yes there is imperfection in beautiful jewelry.

​

ABOUT ME

I discovered silversmithing when I was 13 years old, I took a class at the De Young Museum in San Francisco, where I grew up. I was hooked. I took jewelry classes all through high school and college, where I majored both in science and art. I then went on to be an environmental geologist and a science teacher. I taught for 20 years. My plan was to go back to silversmithing when I retired, but ten years ago a serious health issue changed my path. Faced with looking at my mortality, I knew I had to leave teaching and start the career I had wanted to do years before. I took a sabbatical and then silversmithing classes at the community college. I took over my teenagers’ tv room and created a studio. And my business has grown from there, along with my health. It has been an amazing journey. I love what I do and the journey I am on. My jewelry embraces the scientist and artist in me. 

Metalsmith and musician!

Metalsmith, Artist, Educator

Martha Fitzmier is a metalsmith, artist and educator. Following careers in literacy education, educational consulting, and selling antiques, she took one course in metalsmithing and was captivated by the concept of creating beautiful things from metal.

Martha’s interest in metals began with creating art jewelry, and her focus quickly expanded to include flatware and hollowware. Her growing interest in tessellation as a three-dimensional art form developed during an apprenticeship with Master Silversmith Julia Woodman, in Atlanta, GA. This experience led Martha to design and manufacture a honeycomb tessellation form used to create her flatware, hollowware and jewelry pieces. You can learn more about the tessellation form here.

In the summer of 2018, Martha and her husband moved to Verona, WI.  Soon afterwards she completed the construction of a fully equipped teaching studio — a welcoming setting for students to collaborate, learn new techniques, and hone their skills.  You can see Martha’s Verona teaching studio here.  Martha has served on the Board of Directors of the Madison Art Guild and The Wisconsin Metalsmiths (WIM).  You can learn more about WIM on its Facebook page, here.

Martha’s award winning work has been featured in a number of juried exhibitions.  Martha is exploring deep draw hydraulic press forming and experimenting with its unique possibilities for both hollowware and jewelry design.  She offers a series of workshops in her home studio in Verona, Wisconsin.  You can read more about her workshops here.

Contemporary and Naturalistic Art and Gifts Created with Textiles and Thread Drawing

GAIL HEFTI

Gail Hefti was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and now resides 30 miles outside of the city in an old Victorian farmhouse just below Hartford. She received her BFA, MA in Metalsmithing and K-12 certification, all from UW-Milwaukee. She has been a working metalsmith for forty years, taught Metalsmithing at Milwaukee Area Technical College and is a retired Art Teacher from the public school system. Working primarily in silver and semi-precious stones, she has had her work in many shops, galleries, and art shows primarily throughout the state.

Watercolor artist that was based in Madison, Wi.

Numina Labs Woodwork - beautiful charcuterie boards.

The Serving Boards from Numina Lab are made in Madison, WI. They are handmade, using materials from the waste stream and finished with a food safe oil. Each one is unique.

Art Glass Designs

I love not just the shape and form of flowers and leaves, but also how they light up when the sun shines through them, so you can imagine my delight when I found glass fusing. Glass was made to be lit. Although fused glass lampshades are my long-range goal, sun catchers and garden ornaments are intriguing me at present. They just explode with color in the sun. Similarly, glass earrings sparkle like jewels in the sun. My hope is that my art will mesmerize, and delight you as it does me.

I have a special affection for all types of flowers and you will see them represented often in my work. Most pieces begin with me sketching either from nature directly or from pictures or memory. Our rural setting and multiple flower beds provide ample inspiration. Both the symmetry and asymmetry I see in nature please me, so I often just play around with shapes and arrangements until they please me.

• Ann Kleckner

Cynthia L. Koshalek

Cynthia L. Koshalek works creatively with a variety of two and three dimensional media.She began her career in art as a pastel artist. She then worked in pastel and acrylic to create mixed media pieces. She finds that these two media work well together. She also enjoys painting in acrylic and in oil. Recently, she has been working with Plein Air painting in the Door County area. This blend of painting and the outdoor natural elements has spilled over into another of her artistic interests, ceramics. Cynthia likes using the same shapes, textures, and patterns on her ceramics that she employs on her paintings. In recent years, she has been using vintage and crocheted lace items. Her mother has donated some of her crocheted lace art work, making it a two generational effort. Koshalek’s recent ceramic pieces are larger in scale and are handbuilt. These hand carved or textured art works are a new focus. Cynthia also spends more time on the research and creation of new glazes for her pottery. She belongs to a coalition of ceramic artists in Madison that exchange recipes and results.

Cynthia has been working in Jewelry since her college days at UW Madison. Her professor was Fred Fenster, who was well known and respected. His specialty was forging and creating hollow ware. She once told him that she would never use forging in her jewelry, so she saw no reason to learn the technique. Many years later, she had to eat her words, as she often utilizes hammering and forging techniques in her handmade links, findings, and joinings. Cynthia finds all medias to be both challenging and rewarding.

Cynthia Koshalek features her fused-glass at her Artzy Studio in Ephriam, Wisconsin.

Back Water Ceramics

Josie has been making ceramics for over five years. She is part of the community clay studio at. Midwest Clay Project, where.

Recently a ceramic resident artist at STARworks Ceramics in Star, North Carolina.

Dean Leeper is a ceramic artist from Madison, Wisconsin. Although from the Midwest, much of Leeper’s childhood was spent traveling and living overseas in Europe and Africa. These experiences of travel have influenced his current art and can be seen as a personal mode of questioning and understanding the idea of place. Leeper first started working with ceramics in seventh grade, and has been involved with clay ever since. Leeper is an active member of the clay community where he has been a production potter at Berea College, in Berea, Kentucky, an intern at Norther Clay Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota, an assistant at Haystack in Deer Isle, Maine, has taught workshops around Wisconsin and has teaching experience at the University of Montana as a graduate student. Leeper has participated in wood firings around the country and has assisted numerous established artists in their personal studio practice while continuing to have an active studio practice of his own. His work has been in solo and group shows around the country and has work in the Montana Museum of Art and Culture’s permanent collection in Missoula, Montana. Leeper received his Bachelor of Arts from Berea College in Berea, Kentucky, completed a post-baccalaureate in ceramics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and received his Master of Fine Arts from the University of Montana in Missoula, Montana in 2019. 

Maia graduated from Tufts University in 2008 with a degree in Biology and Community Health.  After two years in the field of kidney research in Boston, Massachusetts, she quit her job and moved to Gatlinburg, TN to participate in the work-study program at Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts.  She continued her education at Pocosin Arts in Columbia, NC and opened a gallery there.  She was a studio artist and instructor in Chicago, completed her Masters in Fine Art at SUNY New Paltz and was selected as an artist in residence at Arrowmont School for Arts and Crafts for the 2016/2017 session.

Her work has been shown internationally at Schmuck in Munich Germany and Galerie Marzee in Nijmegen, Netherlands and most recently at the Baltimore Jewelry Center, Velvet da Vinci, Taboo Studio, and the McColl Center for Art and Innovation.

Artist Statement

My process is dictated by the limits that I place on myself: the source of inspiration, my process of design and creating, my use of materials, colors and mechanisms.  My work is also drawn from the need to create volume out of flatness.  By using almost exclusively steel sheet, I aim to manipulate the material to have a dimension it did not previously have.  The forms are inspired by botanical elements, abstracted and simplified to their most basic shape. I design much of my work on a 3-D rendering computer program called Rhinoceros, and then I either send my work to be laser-cut, or I cut it myself. I use silicone cord, steel tubing, and wire to create the finished piece of work.  I restrict my color choices to the black, white, and the terracotta color of the industrial silicone. I am interested in scale, volume, movement and repetition and how the computer can help me explore these ideas.

The resulting work is an exploration of the intersection between the botanical and the industrial. Having the work be wearable is a primary goal, but I also want to push that idea and play on the balance between overwhelming and attracting the viewer.  I do not want the wearer to look at the jewelry and immediately see a specific plant or flower, but to get the feeling that one gets when seeing or being surrounded by botanicals. 

Artist Statement

The pots I create are intended to bring artwork into daily living while enhancing the interactions between food, drink, people, and their community. As a craftsperson, I endeavor to create highly utilitarian wares for people to use, touch, see, and experience on a consistent basis.

My forms are loosely inspired by the natural world. Just like all oak trees are distinguished from any other species in the forest, each tree is also unique unto itself. I find beauty in the diversity that handcrafted works bring into our assembly-line culture.

The realm of function gives me parameters in which I can explore the purpose and utility of each form and how handmade ceramics augment everyday experiences. By considering how the forms are interacted with I strive to help the user get more satisfaction from commonplace occasions.

Food and drink sustain our bodies, but the camaraderie, empathy, and conviviality of good company sustains our souls.  Handcrafted utilitarian wares augment the nourishment of food and companionship at a meal or with drinks, and add a deeper layer of care and compassion. My pottery ventures to make not only the profound moments, but also the mundane actions of daily living, more artful, cherishable and fulfilling.

Biography

Andrew Linderman is an aspiring studio potter and former high school chemistry teacher originally from the Twin Cities, MN and currently living and working in Milwaukee, WI. He makes functional pots to make the best moments in life better, to make the mundane moments more enjoyable, and to make the difficult moments more bearable. Linderman uses his background in chemistry to create glazes that are enhanced by the firing processes in which he produces his pots. Since 2017, He has been exploring how wood firing affects his surfaces. He continually strives to create a body work in which the functionality of a piece is enhanced by its aesthetic and tactile qualities. Linderman graduated from Luther College (Decorah, IA) in 2012 with a Bachelor of Arts in Chemistry. He has learned his art and craft primarily from George Lowe, S.C. Rolf, Simon Levin, and Michael Kline. Linderman also teaches classes at Cream City Clay in West Allis, WI and gives workshops nationally. 

Linderman sells his work regionally from his home studio in Milwaukee, WI, online, and through a number of galleries and shops.

"Raw sterling silver cries out to me, begs me to convert it into bold jewelry with subtle finishes. Of course, I must obey."

Sarah Mann is fascinated by the creative and technical challenges of transforming her medium into objects of provocative adornment. Geometric shapes flow into organic elements, producing clean, straightforward designs that often incorporate kinetics. She is proud to carry on a family tradition in the crafts and pleased that this enables her to exercise her talent wherever her peripatetic nature may have her living.

Mann realizes fully the broad potential of sterling silver. She crafts her jewelry with torch and tools—saws, files, pliers, nippers, drills, hammers, and the more arcane rolling mill, dapping blocks, and mizzy wheels—then endows it with a range of hues through delicately controlled oxidation. The combined effect of patina on texture is a signature characteristic of all Sarah Mann jewelry.

Organic brass and sterling jewelry made in NYC.

About Lisa:

When I was 5 years old, I went fishing with my dad and brother. As awful as it sounds, my dad accidentally hooked me when casting his line. I was gazing at the fish in the lake when I suddenly felt a tug on my head, but I don't really remember being in pain or distress. What I do remember is looking at myself in the rearview mirror admiringly on route to the hospital. I had a lovely feathered lure hanging down the side of my head and thought I looked like a mythical princess. I do believe my love of adornment started then and there.

Born and raised in the heart of Brooklyn, New York, I pursued my passion for learning about other cultures by earning a BA in Anthropology. Alongside my academic pursuits, I delved into the art of jewelry making, learning from master jewelers over the course of many years.
​
With over two and a half decades of experience as a jeweler, I contiue to draw inspiration from my travels across the globe and the intricate beauty of nature. My work embodies organic forms and reflects diverse cultural influences.
I like to think of the pieces I create as wearable sculptures. I am deeply grateful for the opportunity to channel my creativity into tangible forms and to share my passion with others who appreciate the beauty of handcrafted art.

I try to capture the extraordinary in the ordinary. I am constantly on the lookout for ways to transform and repurpose odd materials, creating value where there was none. My many reversible designs allow the wearer both ease and options…and a chance to be playful and different. You can typically find me in my Oak Park studio making gold out of a pile of plastic swizzle sticks, vintage buttons and – of course – laminate countertop. I have an MFA in Metalsmithing and Jewelry Design from Indiana University and I've taught at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Indiana University and Northeastern Illinois University, and College of DuPage. The jewelry I create is lively, colorful, and bold – much like the stellar women who wear it.

With my photography, I like to see things in a different way, whether it is a macro view or a distant view. 

Coloring photos by hand allows me to reinterpret an image in a way that color film cannot.  It allows me to communicate a feeling as well as a sense of nostalgia.  When I hand color a photograph, I can change the world, if only for moment.

Each image begins with a black and white photograph or a digital painting printed in color. The image is hand colored using a variety of mediums.

I was inspired to hand paint my photos by a hand-painted black and white photograph of an English garden by Wallace Nutting. It was a wedding gift for my grandparents as in the early 1920s. This image, my inspiration, now hangs in my home.

I hope you like my view of the world.

Painter

Artist Jan Norsetter is an award-winning oil painter known for vibrant landscape paintings en plein air and evocative studies in still life. Norsetter also practices the decorative art of rosemaling, using skill and an artist’s sensibility to embellish items traditional and modern in an age-old form.

Norsetter sets up her easel in the open air, working outdoors surrounded by a world that imbues her paintings with a sense of place. Her landscapes capture exact but imaginative views of countryside in every season—close to home in Wisconsin and the US, France, Italy, Ireland, Scotland and Norway. Blog posts are used sometimes to record progress on a series of paintings and impressions of a particular location.

In the past dozen years, Norsetter has exhibited in more than 40 juried, collaborative or solo art shows. Commissions include the Tribune Building Artist of Record, Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin, a series of paintings scheduled for completion in 2024. Selected paintings, prints and Norsetter’s rosemaling are in permanent collections at many museums and cultural institutions, including the Chazen Museum in Madison, Wisconsin, the Chicago Institute of Art in Chicago, Illinois, the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art, Madison, Wisconsin, and Livsriese, the Norwegian heritage center in Stoughton, Wisconsin. Many examples of her work also reside in private collections across the country and Europe.

She is the recipient of numerous awards, including top honors for her nocturne at Paint the Point 2020 in Mineral Point, Wisconsin, and at the Theodore Robinson Plein Air Competition in 2013, 2014 and 2016, First Place and Best in Show at the Wisconsin State Rosemaling Exhibit in 2014 and 2017, and First Place in the National Exhibition of Folk Art in the Norwegian Tradition at the Vesterheim Museum, Decorah, Iowa, in 2009. In July, 2018 Norsetter was awarded the Vesterheim Gold Medal in Rosemaling.

Norsetter holds advanced degrees from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in fine arts and art education. In addition to her work as an artist, she teaches landscape painting and rosemaling. Norsetter continues to draw inspiration from respected mentors in oil painting and rosemaling through formal and informal opportunities to learn and improve her craft.

Madison-area woodworker Todd Oelke makes wine bottle holders out of beautiful, unique pieces of wood. Insert a bottle of wine and it magically balances in the holder with no other support!

Pick up a bottle of wine at the Cottage Goddess in the Paoli Mill building and one of Todd’s wine bottle holders here at Paoli Mercantile for a perfect gift set.

​The Beginning
My love affair with jewelry began when I was a child. When visiting my grandparents, I would pull a beat-up white cardboard box full of tiny shells and sparkly gems out of their kitchen hutch as soon as I arrived; those treasures were just for me! Using a round piece of plastic cut from a lidded container as my base, I glued those beautiful bits and a pin back in place, and proudly wore my creation. That early exploration of creating something from nothing and working with my hands laid the foundation for my desire to create jewelry that gives value to the tiny and overlooked details in your life.

My Background
In addition to being an award-winning jewelry designer (I even have an Oscar-like trophy!), I have an extensive exhibition record and my work has been featured in multiple books and publications. I hold a BFA in Jewelry Design and an MFA in Metalsmithing, and because I constantly push myself to try new things, I’m also a writer and video artist. 

After a brief stint as a Gallery Assistant and a liquor-store clerk, I moved to Wisconsin and joined the staff of Art Jewelry magazine as the Associate Editor. When that adventure came to a close, I worked part-time for Rio Grande, and then moved to Tucson, AZ. In 2018, I began the best job EVER as the Marketing/Sales Manager at Potter USA.

Jewelry becomes part of your personal narrative and gives you confidence. It lets you show your true colors to the world—go ahead and wear that lime green brooch and those long silver earrings with that coral dress! Whether it reminds you of a happy or sad moment, or reaffirms how special you are and puts a little pep in your step, my jewelry gives you permission to live for and embrace the unexpected and playful every day. I focus on the tiniest details in everything I do to bring the highest quality jewelry to the hands of those who are anything but ordinary.

Leslie began her artistic career by studying theatre, which detoured into a study of nursing, during which she became interested in the visual arts. 

This led her to complete a degree in art while working full time as an RN. It was during this time that she was first introduced to metals and jewelry, which subsequently knocked her socks off and quickly became her media of choice, and love of her life.

Feeling called to create, teach and inspire others on a more full time basis, she retired from nursing in 1995 to pursue graduate studies, returning to Chicago in 1997 as a full time artist and teacher while completing a Masters degree in Metals and jewelry from the Savanna College of Art and Design.

Julie Raasch

Jewelry and Photography

Nature-inspired handcrafted jewelry made from copper, and sometimes sterling silver or brass. Much of my jewelry is created using a technique known as fold-forming. It is a technique in which the metal is annealed (heated) repeatedly while folding, unfolding, forging, and forming the metal. Etching and traditional metalsmith techniques are often combined with the folding of the metal. Stones, beads, found objects or hand-made metal and beaded chains are sometimes included. Each piece of aistheta jewelry is a small sculptural piece of wearable art that celebrates the natural world.

My photographs capture the world around me… from sunrise to sunset and beyond. The work is driven by light. I am an observer of nature, color, and how light plays in the environment. It silhouettes, highlights and most importantly brings out color where it was once hidden by darkness.

Studying and observing nature I enjoy looking closely. To take things apart and look at individual items in nature. Getting down on the ground and look at things from a different angle. Finding the best perspective to see how the light interacts… from above, below, or at eye level? I move around the subject to see the best in my subject matter. Hence the name Hoverfly Studio.

I’m always working to push my vision whether I’m creating a nature-inspired, sculptural piece of jewelry or when making a photo. I invite you to explore my work further by visiting me on social media or one of my websites (aistheta jewelry or Hoverfly Studio photography).

Arbor Trace Forge

Wanderlust and Adventure Jeweler based on travel inspirations.
  
Working with my hands has always been a part of my life. Since I could move I have been collecting skills and creating things. Minnesota, with its extensive art community, has very much influenced my work. “Lake life” and Native American Culture along with places I travel have been working their way into my pieces. I create jewelry that I like to wear first and foremost and then I share them. My recent focus is making pieces that invoke a story I want to tell or maybe a message I’d like to convey to you. Each piece is a chapter of that story. There is always an ongoing list of creations being planned on paper and in my thoughts. 

I am ever grateful to be an art warrior and a student of life and travel. Family and working with my hands are the two most important parts of my existence. 

I currently reside in Excelsior, MN. 

I have loved drawing and creating 3-dimensional objects since a very early age. The “art” I created began with pencil sketching, watercolor and charcoal pictures of people and landscapes. In college, I continued taking art classes, but chose to major in Pediatric Occupational Therapy. I used many “forms of art” therapeutically in my treatment plans.  I continued to explore other mediums: glass (glass bead making, stained glass, fusing), but focused on metals in 2005.

I primarily work on hand-fabricated metal smithing techniques like forging: stretching, molding, shaping and texturing fine silver and sterling with hammers, drill bits, rolling mill. This creates a minimalistic style and organic feel in the jewelry. I pair it with multi setting techniques: bezel, tab set, tapered bezel, prong setting; capturing gemstones and cabochons that enhance the jewelry.

Working with her dog at her side in her home studio in Fitchburg, Wisconsin, Julie forges silver and niobium metals using traditional metalsmith techniques. The result is unique artisan jewelry with an emphasis on clean lines and quality craftsmanship. Fine silver wire and sterling silver sheet metal is sawn, soldered and forged to create distinctive hammered silver pieces which reveal the “makers marks” of the hammering. Colorful niobium metal is transformed by the application of an electric current which creates an amazing opalescent color palette. Niobium metal is completely hypoallergenic and extremely lightweight which makes it perfect for those with sensitivities to other metals.

“It’s satisfying when each handcrafted piece of jewelry finds its way to its owner.”

For the most part my artwork is pretty straightforward and should not require much explanation, it is visually literal. The determination for what I create is very subject matter driven and generally found within the confines of the urban and rural landscape of Wisconsin. This is my home, I like it a lot and the catalog of potential paintings and drawings is infinite.

Maybe there is some emotional motivation, a touch of humor or something significant enough to make it worth investing the time to capture, as art. Of course, within this decision making equation are composition, color and contrast, along with approach/technique/medium in determining how to execute each endeavor.

In the end it is quite simple. The process should be both, challenging and satisfying for me. I would also hope that the viewer enjoys what they see and does not tire of looking at the artwork.

It starts with a story about a tree…

The Wood Cycle of Wisconsin Inc. is a family business founded with an emphasis on craftsmanship and artistry over mass production. More than 90 percent of our work begins with trees that need to be removed from Southern Wisconsin’s urban landscapes for reasons such as disease, damage, or construction activities.  With our sawmill, drying kiln and full custom wood shop on one site, we are able to work from log to finished product, often putting a client's tree into their own home or office.

Unofficially, The Wood Cycle goes back through several generations of Dutch immigrant craftsman. Paul Morrison, the founder of The Wood Cycle obtained his passion for woodworking as a young boy following both his grandfathers. One grandfather was a watch maker and jeweler before becoming a cabinetmaker. He in turn followed his uncle “Tinker Bill,” who was described as “The Master Craftsman” in the book Craftsmen of Wisconsin.  

Paul is a co-founder of Wisconsin Urban Wood, the nation’s largest organization of arborists, sawmills and custom woodworking businesses aimed at using wood from the urban landscape. Paul also recently authored the book Tree to Table: Emergence of the Urban Wood Movement.

Wagnercolor.

Steve Wagner, watercolor artist residing in Brooklyn, WI

Now a current Chicago resident, Caroline Walser studied Drawing and Painting at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee where she received a Bachelor’s in Fine Arts. Much of her work is strongly influenced by the city environments she experiences while traveling. She is especially intrigued by the architectural compositions she finds, along with the aesthetics of the local trains and transportation. Having moved to Chicago late last year, she looks forward to continuing to explore the city and its art community.  

Artist Statement

For the past couple of years, I have enjoyed exploring different ways to portray the cities I’ve explored both in the US and abroad. I’m fascinated by the various compositions found in a city due to all the shapes and lines created by its infrastructure. I am also very interested in playing with color theory to experiment with how different colored grounds influence and interact with the colors found in the subject matter to create a different type of atmosphere in each painting.

I create jewelry inspired by clean simple industrial design with a twist of vintage.  Eclectic pieces using color and texture to create unique jewelry with a variety of materials including kiln formed glass, natural gemstones, vintage & found objects and enameled & hand forged metals.

Hannah Wong of HRS Designs creates work that is intended to be interactive with its wearer, whether a physical or an intellectual interaction. Its wearer will take part in a challenge of how art and the body collide. Hannah seeks to create a new value for found objects, making the “valueless” valuable. She also strives to make the unnoticed noticed, and to strip objects of their intended function and meaning. In my work, there is commonly a play on words and a sense of reality displacement. Some of her work maybe described is colorful, fun, and its form is best described as soft geometry. 

Artist Statement

My jewelry is inspired by forms found in nature, as well as architecture and topographical maps. I am attracted to clean lines, geometric forms and intricate patterns. I attempt to harvest my inspirations and apply meaning to my work by designing with a purpose.  My desire is to create work that challenges traditional conceptions of beauty and social conventions. 

As a trained metalsmith, I work primarily in sterling silver and 14k gold. I design modern jewelry with details of Mokume Gane,  Keum boo, traditional stone setting and crushed gemstones. Copper and bronze are used when I make Mokume gane, a metalsmithing technique derived from an ancient Japanese sword making process of layering metals. My art process involves experimenting with texturizing, soldering, and oxidizing metal. I challenge conventional gemstone setting by crushing and reconstructing them in my pieces. I also seek out unique gemstones that I can compliment with metal forms that accentuate the natural details of the stones.

My end goal is to create modern and sophisticated jewelry that results in a statement piece for the wearer.

Hi! I'm Pamm of Bots & Co. You might be wondering why I started making bots. Well, it was out of necessity. I really wanted to purchase one, but they were out of my price range. If I was going to have one, I would need to make it myself. One led to more and a business was born.

I search antique malls, flea markets and vintage sales for interesting junk to create my bots. They are not toys but are just-for-fun display pieces. Each one is unique and has its own personality. I hope they make you smile!

NICOLE ZAPATA

Nicole Zapata creates raw, elegant, nomadic jewelry for everyday wear. Handmade of sterling silver, her jewelry is inspired by nature, fashion and tradition. Each piece is sculpted, molded, cast and finished by hand using age-old techniques passed down to her by her father.

Jen owns Twinkle Toes and Flirty Girl Adornments and Treasures. She specializes in sweet, handmade, one-of-a-kind adornments: pendants/necklaces, earrings, bracelets, and more fashioned from vintage destash, salvage hardware, gemstones, agates, and more.  Free spirited, shabby, chic, unique, one-of-a-kind pieces!

She also dabbles in handmade bath and body feel goods (bath salts in vintage containers are part of the Flirty Girl Feel Goods line).

Why not add a little “Twinkle” to your life?!

Anne Cory is She Knits. 

Anne creates her pieces from yarns and patterns to deliver wearability, style, timelessness and warmth. Each item is carefully knit or crocheted by hand as a one-of-a-kind and size-specific garment. 

Meet Angie and Naly! They are the owners of The Melted Bean (TMB), a small business that makes hand-poured soy candles.  Angie and Naly started TMB back in August of 2015, with the intentions that the revenue would be used to help pay Angie’s student loan debt (the girl loves to learn!). They are dedicated to excellent customer service and take a great pride in making a high quality hand-crafted product.

Product Info

The Melted Bean specializes in uniquely scented hand-poured candles made with eco-friendly and sustainable materials. Each hand poured candle is made with an all-natural soy wax, a cotton wick, cork lined lid and comes in a reusable glass container. We strongly believe in a “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle” philosophy, which is reflected in our products as well as our minimalist approach to packaging. Our fragrances have been carefully selected to cover a wide range of tastes that span from floral to savory to fruity to crisp. 

Wax

Derived from soy beans, soy wax is a biodegradable, clean burning and renewable material that continues to gain popularity because of the many benefits it offers. Compared to paraffin wax, soy wax can hold a larger amount of fragrance, has a lower melting point which creates a stronger scent throw and burns three times longer.  The biodegradable properties of soy wax make it easy to clean with soap and water. The production of soy wax is completely renewable and the U.S. grows the vast majority of the world’s soy beans encouraging growth in the agricultural economy.  

Wick

After a lot of testing, we finally fell in love. Our cotton wicks are a coreless, non-directional, flat braided wick with paper filament throughout. They are coated with a natural wax coating making them perfect for soy candles. Our cotton wicks are self-trimming and designed to promote a consistent burning flame. 

Oil

This one is simple. We carefully selected fragrances that would work well independently and together. We also stayed away from traditional scents found in big box stores. A few of our oils contain a higher percent of vanilla that will turn yellow over time. This is natural because we don’t use additional additives to prevent the discoloration. 

Jars

Reduce, reuse, recycle. The possibilities are endless but if you are experiencing a creative block, head over to Pinterest.